CIRCULAR BREATHING

Putting it all together

So you think you're finally getting the basics of circular breathing. Great! But what next? Well, eventually you'll want to use your circular breathing to start making didgeridoo rhythms.

But if you're still just learning circular breathing, you might be wondering how to incorporate circular breathing with the different playing techniques you have already learnt. The lessons on this page will help you with that.

My 'Five Steps to Circular Breathing Happiness' introduced the basics of circular breathing, that is, circular breathing done simply while doing the fundamental, cheeks-out drone. This is the most simple way to play didgeridoo while circular breathing.

However, the circular breath can be incorporated with any of other techniques you have already learnt. This is how rhythms are made. But before we move onto rhythms, let's try doing this in a few simple ways that will help build your circular breathing skills and versatility.

I know it can be a little confusing to know exactly when to be taking a circular breath. That was always the question I was asking when I was starting to learn. The following lessons, and my following pages on didgeridoo rhythms, should help you with this.

The audio samples below incorporate the circular breath and playing techniques already demonstrated into a simple pattern. First, I speak the pattern to demonstrate how the mouth should be moving to make the sound. This is quickly followed by a 'sniff' sound which will let you know when you should be taking the circular breath.

Following this, I play the pattern with the didgeridoo. The sniff sound will let you know exactly when to take the circular breath.

It might all happen a bit quickly at first, but play the file over and over again, and try to play with it, and you will soon get the hang of it.

Remember: Whenever you hear a sniff sound, that is when I am taking circular breath. That means I am also pushing air out of my cheeks, to continue the drone sound, as I take the breath (sniff) in.

Also remember: When I speak the simple rhythm at the start of each audio file, this does not mean that you speak into the didgeridoo when you play. This is only to demonstrate the way your mouth moves when you do the technique. The exception to this, of course, is the vocalising technique, where you do use your voice to make the sound.

Incorporating circular breathing

THE CHEEKS-IN DRONE

Start a drone from the cheeks-in position. When you need to take a circular breath, inflate your cheeks, then push this air out with your cheeks to keep your lips vibrating as you sniff air in. Then continue the drone as normal. Repeated, it will sound like 'ee oh ee oh', with each 'oh' being the sound of air pushed from your cheeks as you breathe.

MOUTH MOVEMENTS

Start a drone from the cheeks-in position ('eee'), then move your tongue back to make the 'aw' sound, as described in the mouth movements lesson. Then take a circular breath as described previously. Repeated, it will sound like 'ee aw breath ee aw breath'. Don't worry about the pulsing sound that comes with the breath. This is natural and you should use this sound in your playing.

PULSES

Start a drone from the cheeks-in position. Make two 'ha' sounding pulses. As soon as you finish the last 'ha', inflate your cheeks and push this air out with your cheeks to keep your lips vibrating. Repeated, it will sound like 'ha ha breath ha ha breath'.

VOCALISING

Start with the cheeks-in drone and make a simple vocal cry, like a hooting owl. As soon as you stop vocalising, inflate your cheeks and take a circular breath.

DOUBLE TONGUING

Use your tongue to make a 'taka taka' sound as you drone. Your cheeks should be pulled in for best effect. Your cheeks should be pulled in for best effect. As soon as you finish the last 'taka', take the circular breath. It will sound like 'taka taka oh taka taka oh' with each breath made on the 'oh' sound.

THE HORN

Give yourself plenty of time before and after the horn sound to take the circular breath. For example, try 'drone dup drone breath' and repeat. This gives you plenty of space to perform both the circular breath and the tricky horn technique.

Important note about circular breathing and rhythms!

Many people think that the circular breath must be intentionally hidden as much as possible when playing the didgeridoo. They don't want to reveal the secret of how they are breathing while playing the didgeridoo, so try to make it as inconspicous as possible.

They work madly on limiting the action of their cheeks to reduce the sound of the circular breath and make it come out quietly. Or instead, they try to take as few breaths as possible when they are playing, so everyone will concentrate on the actual 'didgeridoo playing', and not their secret breathing that they only do every now and then. They think that hopefully no one will notice if they try these methods, but in fact, doing it this way, everyone will!

Didgeridoo rhythms are all about combining circular breathing and didgeridoo sounds to form unique and interesting patterns of sound (which ultimately lead to didgeridoo solos or compositions). Circular breathing is an important part of playing the didgeridoo and is the foundation for didgeridoo rhythms. Taking circular breaths as part of the rhythm is the real way to play didgeridoo.

The circular breath naturally makes a pulsing sound because of the action of the air rushing from the cheeks (to keep the lips vibrating). This pulsing sound sounds great! It is a strong rhythmic component and a useful sound in didgeridoo rhythms that should be encouraged, not hidden away.

So the best way to make the circular breath less obvious is to actually incorporate and emphasise the breath in the rhythm. Crazy!

Because the sound of the circular breath is a great sound to use in rhythms, it means you can use it anywhere, at any time, frequently and consistently throughout your rhythms. This means that, ironically, the more you incorporate and emphasise the sound of the circular breath in your rhythms, the less conspicuous it becomes and people will have no idea when or how you are breathing while you are playing your crazy pulsating rhythms!

On the other hand, if you expel all your air while playing an elongated rhythm without breathing, then try to excuse yourself while you heave your shoulders and lungs and such back a huge circular breath off to the side, then everyone is going to know when you are taking the circular breath!

So once again, don't think you need to intentionally make the circular breath is quiet or inconspicuous as possible, because this will only make it more obvious. Do the opposite and enjoy emphasising the sound of your circular breathing, as long as it has a place with the sound of the rhythm. Your breathing should become a solid part of your rhythm and contribute to its sound and rhythmic structure. It will naturally start to sound like part of the rhythm, hiding the circular breath within it, to the amazement of your audience who will have no idea what you are doing!

When you start learning to incorporate circular breathing into your rhythms it will not only be an immensely satisfying experience, but you will have created an opportunity to hugely expand the potential of your didgeridoo playing.

See what I mean in the practice rhythms that are shown in the various 'how to play' videos on this website. Each of these practice rhythms incorporate a circular breath. These are only simple examples, but they demonstrate the most important point - that the circular breath is part of the rhythm. For demonstrations of more advanced rhythms with multiple circular breaths, check out my How to Play Didgeridoo PRO online tutorial package.

Once you are confident with incorporating simple circular breaths into the basic playing techniques as shown above, you will be able to start the next and most exciting stage of learning to play didgeridoo: didgeridoo rhythms.

Now let's take a look at didgeridoo rhythms so you can really start to explore the potential of circular breathing and the didgeridoo!

Login to PRO

Login to PRO

Tips

Didgeridoo tip As you practice circular breathing, try to circular breathe when you want to, not when you need to. This will mean that you will be able to use the sound effect that the circular breath creates as an effect in your rhythms. You will learn more about this in the next section on didgeridoo rhythms.

Didgeridoo tip Remember to try the examples at different speeds. You might find that a particular tempo helps you to circular breathe easier.

Didgeridoo tip If you are still experiencing that annoying gap between circular breaths, just persevere and keep practicing. It will eventually go away. Revisit my page on how to circular breathe for a complete rundown of the technique.

Didgeridoo tip If your lungs get too full of air, just don't take a circular breath. However, you should still try to make that 'oh' sound by pushing air from your cheeks if you need to maintain the sound of the rhythm.

Didgeridoo tip Don't walk away once you have learnt to circular breathe! Now you are ready to move to the most exciting part of learning how to play: didgeridoo rhythms!

Didgeridoo tip There are quite a few other ways to incorporate your circular breathing into your rhythms, including bounce breathing and tongued breathing. These will be covered in How to Play Didgeridoo PRO (available sometime soon). These styles allow you to play a lot faster with much more rhythmic emphasis and effect.